An Italian study using neodymium magnets sewn into textile supports worn 2-8 hours/day for 4 months has shown significant benefits over and above placebo. The 48 subjects enrolled in the study suffered from osteoarthritis or osteoporosis and were assessed for pain perception at 2 and 4 months after commencing the trial.

The perception of pain was significantly reduced in the active group (36% reduction) and increased in the placebo group (3.4% increase) (p<0.001). In addition, there was an improvement in the quality of sleep in patients with osteoarticular pain.

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The authors postulated that the pain relief might be explained by the anti-inflammatory action of magnets and/or an effect on C-fibre nerves, responsible for the transmission of pain.

While all of the references from the paper refer to multipolar magnets and magnetic field gradients, it’s not possible to determine from the description the characteristics of the magnetic field entering the body or any specific joint such as the knee or lower back.

A paper by Colbert (2009) conducted a critical review of treatment parameters of static magnetic field therapy. Fifty-six articles were reviewed and ten essential static magnetic field (SMF) dosing parameters were suggested as requiring description when conducting clinical trials.

Ten essential dosing parameters, as suggested by Colbert.

Dosing parameter

1. Target tissue

2. Site of magnet application

3. Distance of magnet surface from target tissue

4. Magnet surface field strength

5. Material composition of permanent magnet

6. Magnet dimension

7. Magnet polarity

8. Magnet support device

9. Frequency of magnet application

10. Duration of magnet application

The published clinical trials using static magnetic fields would be much more useful if researchers documented Colbert’s dosing parameters.

While this paper provides a very favourable study for static magnetic field therapy, given that it does not provide a description for the type of magnetic field or the method by which they protected the blinding of the magnets, it cannot be given too much weight.